Perseverance of the Saints

Man's ability to choose is God-given and never infallible. By virtue of his nature he is a fallible creature prone to fallible decisions. I did not have to make that decision at that time. I could have deferred to a later time.

Why does a person make a choice? I buy my groceries a store A because they offer better deals than store B. I went to college A because taking all the factors into consideration the education was just as good as B, and they were financially more affordable. I chose Christ over "Islam" (for example) because Christ demonstrated that He is God and the Savior of the world by His resurrection. Mohammed is still in the grave. He was an illiterate camel driver prone to dreams and visions. Others wrote down what he said. Their book, the Koran, is contradictory in many places and came after the Bible by more than 500 years. Faith is based on knowledge. Faith is not blind. I choose according to the knowledge I have. Christianity is not mystical. The words of Christ were verified. If the resurrection did not happen and what Christ said is not true, then he is the biggest charlatan, liar and deceiver that ever walked the face of this earth, and has had millions of followers who have been deceived in becoming martyrs for him.
The object of my faith is Christ. It is Christ, because I believe who he says he is--God come in the flesh--the Creator of the universe, my Maker, my savior, and I his servant.

I was saved as an adult out of a religion that I don't believe was Christian. I never heard the gospel until I heard it as an adult. The first time I heard it I got saved. It was not an emotional experience. It was one that required thought and reason.

The "what if's" are all speculation because they all are not true. They did not happen. What do you mean by "threshold of faith"? There is no such thing. Either you believe or you don't. Did the resurrection happen? Yes or no. There is no threshold. You either believe or you don't.

I agree with almost everything that you say.
Which part do you think I would disagree with?

 

Yes, the source of our faith before salvation (not after), is no doubt where we differ. Here is my position.

Faith in the Bible is presented as: 1. a spiritual gift, and 2. a fruit of the spirit. Either way, God would never give a spiritual gift of the fruit of the Spirit to the unregenerate. That is an unbiblical stand, one that I could never agree with.
Secondly, the Bible clearly says that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." It never says that it is given directly by God to the unbeliever, but rather comes by hearing the Word of God. That is why I explained in my previous post, when I became convinced of the message of the gospel I had the faith to believe it, as opposed to other religions. Faith is based on facts. Our faith is not blind. It is based on the facts of the gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thus the faith, must be my faith. God does not give faith to the unregenerate. To help me in my faith, the Holy Spirit convicts of sin.
In John 3:5, Jesus said: Except you are born of water and of the Spirit you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.
But in 1Pet.1:23, Peter writes:
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)
--You must be born again of the Spirit.
--You must be born again of the Word.
--Both are necessary. The Spirit works through the Word, as one puts their faith in the message of the gospel in order to be saved.

 

Do you believe it is the intellectual knowledge of the gospel which convinces the man to put his (intrinsic ability) faith in Christ?
Must have that intellectual knowledge, believe it from the heart, and at the same time be convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit. We gain knowledge ourselves and we put faith in it ourselves. We do that everyday as we put our faith in others; our trust, our confidence.

After Christ, by the power of His Spirit, comes and dwells within the believer, then the believer has access to a much greater power. He can do all things that strengthen him through Christ Jesus. God has promised never to tempt/test him above that he is able but always to give a way of escape that he may be able to bear it. There is nothing that is able to separate the believer from the love of Christ (unless it be sin). And this is the victory that overcomes the world--even our faith. What a tremendous life we have as believers in Christ!

 

No I haven't. In fact if you believe that it would be directly against all that the Bible teaches concerning soteriology.
Here again is what I said:

Thus I conclude that you believe:
Unsaved people mimicking God's gifts such as Simon Magnus who wanted it for profit, are actually regenerated. BTW that is where we get the term "simony" from.
Every "faith healer" today such as Benny Hinn claims to have faith from God. According to you that is proof that they are regenerated. Benny Hinn believes there are nine persons in the trinity.

Regeneration does not take place before salvation. That is not a biblical concept and cannot be backed up with Scripture. Neither can the concept that God gives faith to the unregenerate. This is such an unbiblical concept I am floored to hear such a belief coming from Baptists. Does God also give love (agape), illumination, spiritual discernment, and other such gifts to the unregenerate. No, of course not. But you have set this precedent that He does. If he gives one spiritual gift to the unregenerate why not give them all to the unsaved? This is totally ridiculous.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
--If faith is given to the unregenerate then why not all the fruit of the Spirit. Be consistent. Your position is wrong!

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (1 Corinthians 12:8-11)
--There are many that believe the gifts have not ceased. Even if they have, faith is described as a gift of the Spirit. Is this gift given to unbelievers. If it is then why not the rest of the gifts that are mentioned here? You are not consistent. You are wrong. Faith is never given to the unregenerate. It is only given to the saved. God does not give faith to the unsaved, the unregenerate. That is a totally unbiblical concept. It is unfathomable that any person should believe this.

 

What do you mean when you say "the ability" has to come from God. My very existence comes from God. My ability to breathe, walk, talk, etc. comes from God. Everything I do comes from God. Inasmuch as I put my key into the ignition of my car, and by faith when I turn it believe that my car will start, I (many years ago) by faith believed in Christ and his sacrifice that he would save me from my sins. Faith is faith. In the first instance the object of my faith was a ford manual or the word of the ford company. In the second instance the object of my faith was the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first instance the object of my faith was man and man-made products that could and would fail. In the second case the object of my faith was the perfect immutable Godhead who never fails, cannot fail, and who has given us a book which contains his eternal promises which cannot fail and never will fail. The faith is the same. As an unsaved individual God did not give me the faith to start my car. And God did not give me the faith to believe in him. He left it up to me. He gave me the choice. It was my choice to start my car. It was my choice to believe on him. I believed my car would start (if it hadn't, it wouldn't have been the failure of faith but of man's fallible products because man is not infallible). I believed God would save. And He did. He never fails.

 

That is an opinion. I will respect your opinion. I don't believe it is a Biblical opinion. It has no foundation in Scripture.